pastry cream

I was thrilled when I saw this was the challenge for November! I was less thrilled at my results, but still enjoyed this challenge and can’t wait to try my hand at Paris-Brest another time.

The November Daring Baker’s challenge took us for a ride! Luisa from Rise of the Sourdough Preacher challenged us to make Paris-Brest, a beautiful pastry celebrating the Paris-Brest bicycle race.

Happy Thanksgiving! Since things have been pretty crazy for us, as I am sure they have been you any of you celebrating Thanksgiving today, I am keeping this post short.

My most favorite part about this was making the incredible praline and creme mousseline. I could’ve eaten the caramelized hazelnut and almond butter on just about anything. A spoon is perfect. That goes into a pastry cream and then you mix that with butter. Few things could be better, in my opinion. But then you pipe that amazing goodness onto pâte à choux rounds and things get super delicious.

The pâte à choux didn’t seem to rise very well. Not sure what I did wrong there. I also didn’t have enough dough to make the 6 in the size called for in the recipe. I would make mine smaller next time, and try piping with a larger tip.

Even though my pâte à choux weren’t great, this was a delicious dessert that would be quite impressive to serve. I’ll definitely be trying this one again! Thanks, Luisa!

Paris-Brest

Pâte à Choux

Ingredients

1/3 cup water

6 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons whole milk

1/3 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/3 cup cold butter

¾ cup plus 4 teaspoons cake flour

3 medium eggs, beaten

two handfuls of slivered almonds

egg, beaten, for the brushing

Directions

Preheat oven to moderate 350°F and sift the flour.

In a nonstick saucepan pour in the milk, water, sugar and salt. Add the butter in small pieces and put on medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon and bring to a boil. Add the flour in one shot to the boiling liquid. Stir vigorously with a wooden spatula. Cook on the stove on a very low heat for a few minutes, until the dough becomes firm, smooth and homogeneous. The dough must be dry and detach from the bottom of the pan easily.

If you have a stand mixer pour the mixture into its bowl. With the K beater stir the mixture on low speed for a few minutes, until it cools down a little. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well on medium speed. Before adding the next egg make sure that everything is well blended. This way, the air will be incorporated into the dough and when baking it will make puff the Paris Brest which won’t deflate out of the oven.

If you don’t have a stand mixer proceed mixing the eggs directly in the pan where you cooked the dough, after allowing it to cool down. Work the egg with the wooden spatula until all the egg is incorporated before adding the next one. The dough should be smooth, like a thick cream.

Cover the baking sheets with baking paper or a silpat mat. If you use baking paper you can trace some circles of 4¾ -inches (12 cm) to help you out piping the circles. I use a silpat mat that already is specially designed to help out piping, that could be helpful too. To pipe the Paris-Brest use a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch (10 mm) plain nozzle and pipe two circles, the outer one of the diameter of the circle you drew. Pipe a third circle on top, using the star-shaped nozzle. If you don’t have one use a fork to trace some lines on its surface, this will help the choux pastry to rise properly. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with slivered almonds.

Bake in a moderate oven 350°F for about 23-25 minutes, in a static oven. To get rid of any moisture in the oven you can keep the door slightly open. This way the dough will dry out completely during baking. The Paris-Brest should be golden brown, with a uniform color. Let cool completely.

Praline

Ingredients

1/3 cup (2 ounces) whole almonds

1/3 cup (2 ounces) whole hazelnuts

6 tablespoons caster sugar

1 tablespoon water

Directions

Put the sugar into a non-stick pan, over medium heat. Add water and bring to a boil.

When the sugar reaches 250°F/121° C (without thermometer you will need to reach the stage at which the sugar begins to boil and the syrup starts to become more and more dense), add the nuts all at once. Mix well with a wooden spoon to coat all the nuts in the sugar. At this point, the sugar will start to sand, i.e. crystallize again. Continue to stir. The sugar will melt a second time, this time caramelizing.

Once all the nuts caramelize, remove the pan from the heat.
Pour the entire contents of the pan on a heat-resistant silicone mat or a piece of parchment.

Let cool completely. Break into smaller pieces and grind in a food processor until a thick paste forms.

Set aside or put in an airtight container and store in the fridge.

Creme Mousseline

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk

2 egg yolks

¼ cup sugar

3 tablespoon (45 ml) (2/3 oz) (20 gm) cake flour, sieved

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened

3 oz praliné

1 vanilla pod, sliced open length wise

Directions

In a small saucepan bring the milk to a boil with the vanilla pod. Put aside and let cool for about 10 minutes. In a bowl whisk the eggs yolks and sugar until they become white.

Add the flour and whisk until all mixed through.

Mix half of the milk in the egg, until all uniform. Pout into a small pan and put on medium heat. Add the remaining milk. Cook until the cream thickens, stirring the cream continuously. When thick transfer into a bowl and cover with cling film touching the cream. Chill until cool, an hour or two.

In a bowl mix the softened butter with the praliné. Add to the cooled cream until homogeneous.

Assembly

Fill a piping bag with creme mousseline.

Halve pate a choux and pipe creme mousseline around the bottom layer then cover with the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

When I was asked to bring fruit to a little gathering of Sunday school ladies, I don’t know if this is what she had in mind. But I’d been itching to make a proper dessert for a while, so this is what I brought. Beats the pants off of a fruit salad, I’d say.

Making pastry cream is one of those “miracle in the kitchen” moments when you smile and marvel at what can become of eggs, milk, sugar and heat! One minute on the stove you’re whisking, being careful not to stir too quickly to avoid spilling the thin mixture, then it’s suddenly a thickened pot of deliciousness! Pastry cream is easy, as long as you can devote a little bit of undivided attention to it. If you don’t whisk, whisk, whisk while its cooking you’ll end up with lumps, which are not what you want in a pastry cream. You also have to let it cool for at least 2 hours in the fridge. If you have time and patience, you can make pastry cream.

Recipes for the tart crust and pastry cream came from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. I had no problems with the pastry cream. The crust was another story entirely. After preparing the dough, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. At this point I already had my doubts. It was so crumbly and dry. After chilling overnight (which the recipe says is fine) it was so dry that it was impossible to roll out. And I mean impossible. It crumbled. All over the place. I ended up just pressing it into the tart pan. I blind baked it, worrying the entire time that I’d have to do it over again. But it came out of the oven looking fine. I figured that since it was going to be filled with pastry cream and topped with fruit, a less than stellar crust was OK. It turned out to be a bit difficult to slice, and it did crumble easily, but it tasted great. But I am in search of the perfect tart dough now.

You can use any fruit you like. I used blueberries, raspberries and kiwi. I also bought strawberries, but didn’t end up having room for them. So I made baby food with them…something that was not a big hit. But that’s a story for another blog.

I glazed the top of the finished tart with apricot jam that I’d heated and thinned with a little water to give it a nice sheen. It doesn’t interfere with the taste at all.

Tart Dough

NOTE: The instructions below would work in an ideal baking world. I had to press my crumbling dough into the tart pan, much like a graham cracker crust. If you cannot roll this dough, the pressing method works fine, but does not yield a tender crust. I might be inclined to tell you to simply use your favorite pie dough recipe in place of this one. Sorry, Martha.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter, room temp

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons heavy cream

Directions

In the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, combine butter and powdered sugar on low speed until combined, about 2 minutes.

Add egg yolks and mix until incorporated. Add 3/4 cup flour and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Add remaining 3/4 cup flour, salt and cream, and mix until flour is no longer visible, about 1 minute.

Turn dough onto plastic wrap and shape into a flattened disk. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to make your tart shell, preheat oven to 375°F, remove dough from the fridge, roll out to 1/4 inch thick and at least 2 inches wider in diameter than your tart pan (so 13 inches for an 11 inch pan, 11 inches for a 9 inch pan).

Drape dough over pan, press into the pan, remove excess by rolling a rolling pin over the top edge to trim dough.

Blind Bake: Prick dough lightly with a fork in several places. Lay a piece of parchment over the dough, fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes, remove parchment and weights, bake for another 5-10 until slightly browned. Let cool.

Pastry Cream

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped

pinch of salt

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and salt. Cook over medium heat until mixture just comes to a simmer.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs yolks, cornstarch, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour about 1/2 cup hot milk mixture into the egg mixture. Continue adding milk mixture, a little at a time, to the egg mixture, whisking constantly, until it has all been incorporated.

Pour mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Remove and discard vanilla bean.

Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment. Add the butter and beat on medium speed until the butter melts and the mixture cools slightly, about 5 minutes.

Pour pastry cream into a bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto the surface (so it doesn’t form a skin). Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.